Mother 'made to wait two weeks' after waters broke before giving birth at Shrewsbury hospital
A mother says she was made to wait two weeks after her waters broke before giving birth at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and her son now has disabilities.
Kate-Anne Wilds is one of hundreds of mothers complaining about poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which is at the centre of what has been called the largest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS.
Ms Wilds gave birth to her son Morgan in January 2004 but has accused the trust of making her wait two weeks after she first raised alarms that her waters may have broken.
Now aged 15, Morgan has a range of disabilities including autism, dyspraxia as well as other learning difficulties and a stutter.
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He also suffers from behavioural problems, mobility, co-ordination and balance issues, he frequently falls and has hypermobility syndrome in both ankles and feet – meaning his joints are too flexible.
Ms Wilds says she sought medical help after her waters broke and she started leaking amniotic fluid, which is designed to protect the baby and aid their development.
Following a community midwife and hospital appointment – including an ultrasound which highlighted her amniotic fluid had almost gone – staff decided to induce Ms Wilds.
Morgan, who was stuck in the birth canal, was delivered with forceps after a 14-hour labour.
Ms Wilds, who now lives in Chesterfield, has instructed medical negligence experts at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care she and her son received and whether more should have been done to deliver Morgan at an earlier date.
The 40-year-old said: “Morgan is the most wonderful, loving and affectionate boy I could have ever wished for.
“Morgan still struggles greatly to come to terms with his neurological difficulties and other problems.
"He fears becoming an adult and being unable to cope with even the simplest of everyday tasks and demands.
“As a family we are trying to support him the best that we can, in the hope that we can equip him with some basic life skills at the very least, as he moves through to adulthood.
"However, in realistic terms we know that the prospect of Morgan becoming a fully independent adult is very unlikely.
“I have always been angry about what happened around Morgan’s birth but we've just tried to get on with things the best way we can. I thought that my concerns would not be listened to.
"It’s only now, with all the other issues at the hospitals emerging, that you realise the extent of the problems and there are others with similar concerns.
“Hearing the findings of the report and that issues have been going on for years but nothing appears to have improved is worrying.
“Nothing can make up for what happened, especially to Morgan, but we deserve to know whether more should have been done to help us and, if so, if the conditions Morgan now has were the result of his birth.”
Irwin Mitchell’s specialist medical negligence group actions team is working with 22 people who say they have suffered as a result of maternity care failings at the trust.
Tim Annett, partner at Irwin Mitchell representing the families affected, said: "We are now investigating these concerns and are determined to establish answers for the families, including Kate-Anne and Morgan, as quickly as possible.
“We once again reiterate the need for lessons to be learned from the wider failings already identified in maternity services at the trust.”
A spokesperson for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said: “We will look closely into Kate-Anne and Morgan’s case to help ensure the family get the answers to the questions they have.
“We would encourage anyone who has any concerns about their Maternity care to contact the independent review by emailing maternityreview@donnaockenden.com or calling 01243 786 993.”
An independent review into maternity care at SaTH, launched by the government in 2017, is reviewing more than 600 cases linked to poor care going back 40 years.
A leaked report into the inquiry recently revealed a catalogue of concerns and that dozens of babies and mothers are thought to have died or been left disabled due to poor care at the trust, which runs RSH and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.
